Hayley Atwell admitted that she felt “disgusting” playing such an execrable character in BBC One’s adaptation of Andrea Levy’s novel The Long Song, but that made it all the more important to inject “humanity” into the role.

The 36-year-old Agent Carter star plays Caroline Mortimer – a mistress who wields her power and status over a slave she plucks from her mother as a young child called July [played by Tamara Lawrance] during the final days of slavery in 19th century Jamaica.

Atwell says it would have been “reductive to play Caroline as a monster” and instead wanted to explore why Caroline did what she did, and what damage her systematic cruelty upon others ultimately did to her own soul.

“Caroline is so against my own value system and my own understanding but that was all the more reason that I wanted to put humanity in her,” the actress told Harper’s Bazaar UK at a screening for the series.

“Because it would be reductive to play her as a monster. That doesn’t give us anything, it doesn’t help us with the complex, intelligent question or conversation around it. I felt disgusting, and I felt gross but then I thought that’s how I’m meant to feel. I’m doing things going that against my instincts as a person.”

Atwell continued that Caroline didn’t really have much power or authority – despite being a sister of a plantation owner – and that her bullying behaviour is down to her own “insecurity and cowardice”

“Caroline has nothing that gives her any independent identity…. She gets a sense that the slaves are smarter than she is, and they know something about her that she doesn’t know about herself and therein lies how pathetic and almost endearing and awful she is,” she explained.

“It’s very textbook, I think, that bullying that comes from insecurity and cowardice, and where she tries to assert this authority that she doesn’t really have. I wanted to explore the psychological damage or the damage done to one’s psyche, when that person inflicts damage on someone else you think, ‘I bet she can’t live in her one skin’. She’s crawling in self-loathing.”

Avengers star Hayley Atwell says playing a woman “who doesn’t rely on her beauty or her charm” was part of the appeal of her new play set in the world of private equity.

The actress plays Jenny in Dry Powder, a cold calculating businesswoman with no sense of the human cost of her decisions, in her first stage role in five years.

She said: “This was the first play I had read that had debunked female stereotypes and for me I hadn’t seen a female character like this before.

“There is no sexual chemistry, that’s new, she doesn’t rely on her beauty or her charm, she has none, she is someone who thinks in numbers and severely lacks emotional intelligence.

“Everything is very much compartmentalised, she sees things as an equation to be worked out.”

Atwell, who admits she was ignorant of the world of finance before taking on the role, spent time with the play’s writer, New Yorker Sarah Burgess, and with people who work in the industry as part of her research.

She said: “I had no interest in it so when I read the script for maybe the first quarter of it I was thinking I don’t really understand a lot of this but I know it’s really good writing, I know it’s very witty, I think the characters are very distinct and I’m understanding that there are different arguments going on.

“By the end of it it didn’t matter that I didn’t really understand the financial jargon.”

After a stint playing a Marvel heroine the actress has come back to the UK to brighten our Sunday nights in a new take on Forster’s novel

In all but one way, the role and the actress are a perfect match. Hayley Atwell, like Margaret Schlegel, the heroine she plays in the BBC’s immaculate new classic serial, Howards End, is clever, morally alert and strong-willed. Like Margaret, Atwell has mixed heritage, although Atwell is Anglo-American rather than ancestrally German. Being half an outsider, she thinks, makes you “nosy” and curious about people. Yet both Atwell and Margaret speak cut-glass received English, so the natives never guess that they are spying.

Professionally it is a good fit too. Atwell comes to the part after a spell in America, where she stunned as Marvel’s Agent Carter, but where her next TV series flopped. Her return from Hollywood is its loss and our gain. “I was clear,” she tells me over lunch in a London restaurant, where beneath our table snoozes her pet chihuahua, Howard, “that this was the kind of work I wanted to do and these were the kinds of people I wanted to work with.” These people include Matthew Macfadyen, who plays Margaret’s widowed suitor, Henry Wilcox, the series director, Hettie Macdonald, and Kenneth Lonergan, the writer and director of Manchester by the Sea, who adapted EM Forster’s novel.

My only caveat is that Atwell, besides being, at 35, a few years older than Margaret, doesn’t really fit Forster’s description in his novel of a woman of “meagre” figure whose face “seemed all teeth and eyes”. Atwell has the figure and face of a star from Hollywood’s bulb-popping prime. It is a matter of pride to her that she has been defined by neither, and nor is her Margaret.

“I think with Margaret Schlegel, she’s quite an evolved human. She is able to say, ‘Henry Wilcox might not be as morally honest as I am, or he might be a bit confused and he might have his values a little bit skewed — but I’m not going to seek to change him in any way.’ She’s not going to use his soul as raw materials. That would be contemptible and unfair.”

When ABC cancelled Agent Carter, it was a sad day for us all, mostly because it was one less place we could see Hayley Atwell own it as Peggy Carter. Then the character passed away in Captain America: Civil War and it seemed like we were well and truly done with ever seeing Peggy again. Well, surprise! Hayley Atwell is returning to play the character once again, though not in the way some might be hoping. Atwell will be voicing Peggy Carter in an upcoming episode of the animated series, Marvel’s Avengers: Secret Wars.

According to ComicBookMovie.com, Hayley Atwell will lend her voice talents to the role of Peggy Carter for the cartoon, Marvel’s Avengers: Secret Wars. Formerly known as Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, the series airs on Disney XD and changes its name per season based on whatever the main plot or villain is. This year the famous Secret Wars comic book storyline seems to be the inspiration for the name change, hinting that the Avengers will be getting into some multiverse shenanigans. Atwell will voice a time displaced Peggy who, alongside Howard Stark, teams up with Captain America and Iron Man to defeat the time traveling villain, Kang the Conqueror. That’s something that would be awesome to see in live action, but cartoon works too.

While many would rather see Hayley Atwell resume the role in a live-action capacity, getting Peggy Carter in any form is a win for fans. Carter is a fan favorite character and there’s a lot of reasons why she, of all characters in the MCU, was selected to get a spin off television series. Chief among those reasons is Atwell herself and her brilliant performance of the character. It also helps that the actress seems to really like playing the character, meaning we can probably count on seeing her in the role at least a few more times; you can never go wrong with a good flashback!

Before the series can even have air its first episode, there has already been a change in the cast that will affect the long term outlook of the show. Conviction is about the daughter of a former president that is one of the major players in law, and is a by the book person. She gets blackmailed into heading the Conviction Integrity Unit, which much like its name, is all about looking over cases where the default ruling may have been wrong. The politics behind it all is quite interesting, and as per usual with these types of shows there will be an entire tea of forensic experts, investigators and lawyers.

Hayley Atwell will play Carter Morrison, the daughter in question that is being blackmailed. That position is safe, but Daniel DiTomasso who was expected to play her brother will no longer be on the show in the future. Jackson Morrison was considered to be a better lawyer than even his sister, and would have been her most notable nemesis on the show. Besides the head butting in the courtrooms, there would have also been the family drama attached to their interactions since he was considered the golden child.

The role was at one point upgraded from a guest role to a series regular, and he was going to be an integral part of the storyline. For unknown reason it went from full time regular in the pilot to them completely taking the character off of the show, with only a note saying that they are taking the character in a different direction. How much this will bring the show down will depend heavily on who that can cast to be a worthy nemesis to Carter. [Source]

Netflix’s “Agent Carter” series may have been dropped from the roster but there is hope. Peggy Carter may just come back in Marvel Cinematic Universe.

While her character is already dead in the recent “Captain America: Civil War” movie, Hayley Atwell’s character still plays a major role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly, in origins of S.H.I.E.L.D as its creator and founder.

After two seasons of the Netflix series, fans are worried that she’s never coming back. But Atwell is 100% open to playing Peggy Carter again. “I love Peggy,” Atwell said at MegaCon in Orlando. “I love the people that were working on this project together. The fans are incredibly warm and welcoming. And it would be an absolute privilege and honor to bring her back for the fans.”

It is unclear, however, whether it is going to be in a third season, a spin-off or a movie. TV Guide has it that an “Agent Carter” movie could focus on how the SSR ultimately becomes S.H.I.E.L.D. Atwell herself pointed that out. She also teased about the possibility of a third season. Cinema Blend has it that there was talk of a third season.

“There was talk of Season 3 of going further back into her past,” Atwell recalled. “So the showrunners were talking about a possible kind of twist, I suppose, into something to do with the family. … They suggested there would be more to do with my brother. So that’s all I can say.” This suggests the possibility of further exploring her origins. If ever Peggy Carter decides to come back, she’d be happy to play the role again. Atwell even promised to split her time between “Conviction” and Marvel.

There is still no official confirmation that “Agent Carter” will appear for the third time, on Netflix. Now, fans can only get their Hayley Atwell fix when her new ABC Drama titled “Conviction” hits the screens. [Source]

During an appearance at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, the actress said she is “100 percent” committed to playing Peggy Carter in any possible revival of the Marvel show, which ABC canceled in May. And even though Atwell stars in ABC’s upcoming legal drama Conviction, the star said she’d “shoot on the weekends” if Netflix brought the show back – the goal of a Change.org petition signed by more than 116,000 fans.

“I love Peggy,” said Atwell. “I love the people that were working on this project together. The fans are incredibly warm and welcoming. And it would be an absolute privilege and honor to bring her back for the fans.”

As for what a third season would entail, Atwell revealed she already has an idea. “There was talk of season 3 of going further back into her past,” she said. “So the showrunners were talking about a possible kind of twist, I suppose, into something to do with the family.”

Atwell added: “They suggested there would be more to do with my brother. So that’s all I can say.”

The actress, 34, also expressed interest in portraying Peggy “in my own movie” – a tease that resulted in an eruption of applause from the audience. [Source]

With Castle now officially canceled, the Monday night slot at 10pm is now free. Maybe it’s because the heart of Castle really ended in season seven, but I found myself curious about the show that would be replacing it. It turns out that show is Conviction – which stars Hayley Atwell from the sadly canceled Agent Carter. Here’s the story synopsis.

Lawyer and former First Daughter Hayes Morrison (Hayley Atwell, “Marvel’s Agent Carter”) is about to accept a job offered from her sexy nemesis, NY District Attorney Wayne Wallis, to avoid jail time for cocaine possession and avoid hurting her mother’s Senate campaign. Working with his team at the new Conviction Integrity Unit will let her use her brilliant mind to turn over cases where there is credible suspicion of wrongful conviction, and give her a chance to turn things around with her high-powered political family.

Having seen a bit more than just the trailer, I can tell you that the show has a very ensemble and that all of the characters definitely have something going on besides just working on this team! The show has a well-seasoned cast one that the synopsis has listed as starring, “in addition to Atwell.

Hayley spent six days on May 2011 in Nicaragua on a trip with Christian Aid to see how the charity had helped coffee farmers in the region. Hayley returned from her trip to write a piece for the BBC and discuss her visit on Radio 5 Live and in Hello! magazine.

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